Feeling Your Chest Voice in Singing

You may already know what’s supposed to be your chest singing voice, but maybe you still aren’t sure what it actually is. The best way to tell is to feel it. Try some of the following exercises so you can feel those chest voice vibrations.

The pattern in the following illustration gives you your first opportunity to find your chest voice. Listen to the singers on the CD to hear the sounds they make in chest voice. Notice that the sound is full and thick. Identify the sensations in your body and try to feel the vibrations as you sing.

Guys: This exercise is purposely really low. Some men can sing low, and you should try to see whether your voice can sing low notes. Even if you can’t, with time you may find that the notes get stronger. Some tenors may not be able to sing this pattern because it’s so low.

Try it several times — if it’s just too low, find other patterns that aren’t quite so low, or sing up an octave for a few repetitions. Your starting note is the first note that the piano plays.

Dolls: The first couple of repetitions are low for you. Some women can sing quite low, so the pattern gives you the opportunity to see how low you can sing in chest voice. With practice, you may find that the patterns gradually get easier and that you gain some strength on lower notes. The second note that the piano plays is your starting note for this pattern.

The pattern in the next illustration begins on ah, an open vowel, to help you start with a thicker chest voice sound. You can stay in chest voice the entire time you sing this pattern.

Guys: Gentlemen, sing the pattern in the below illustration down an octave from what’s written on the page. You can hear the male voice on the CD demonstrate for you. The pattern begins low and gradually moves higher in pitch.

You can continue working on this pattern on your own and go higher in pitch. If you find the pattern too low for you, sing it as it’s written on the page or wait until the pattern gets high enough for you.

Dolls: This pattern stays in your chest voice range. If your voice is high, you may find the first few repetitions of this pattern quite low. Try singing it to feel the vibrations of chest voice and gradually widen the space in your throat and mouth as you move higher in pitch.